I Promise, I'll Save You
by LornaTheLoop
Summary: AU; Sirius Black discovers a dark secret within the Ministry of Magic, he vows to make things right when he finds the true corrupt nature of the Ministry he is working for and finds the love of his life in an unexpected person along the way. Sirius/Remus, Lily/James, Rated M for swearing and some dark themes.
1. A Promise Is Made

A black-haired boy of about twelve years old was sitting at a chair in the Ministry of Magic that was much too big for him.

Sirius Black was on his summer holidays and as there was nobody at home to take care of him he had ended up in his dad's office for the day. His dad, Orion Black, was the head of the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures.

When he was younger, going into his dad's work was an exciting adventure, so many witches and wizards and once someone brought in a dragon to show him! But as a twelve year old trouble-maker, Sirius was getting rather bored sitting in this dull office.

So, naturally, as his dad left to go to a meeting, Sirius stood up and picked the lock on the office door. Muggle tricks like lock picking were handy skills to have.

He wandered down corridors, sneaking into interesting looking rooms, in one room there were two harassed looking wizards discussing what to do with an angry poltergeist they had locked in a box that was bouncing off the walls and floor, in another he saw a plump man with a large beard trying to defend his right to own a fire-breathing duck.

It was a strange door at the very end of the corridor that stuck out to Sirius the most.

It wasn't polished wood like the others; it was thick stone and blended right into the wall. He tried the handle, it wouldn't budge. There were no locks to be picked on this door, but a year at Hogwarts had taught him that there might be a secret latch or lever. He tapped the bricks on the side of the door, but nothing happened. A few minutes later and Sirius was about to give up, when it miraculously opened. Looking down at his feet he had stepped on the button, rather than tapped it on the wall.

The sight that greeted him was not pleasant.

It was a prison. As far as he could see along a single passage there were cells with arched entrances guarded by cold metal bars. It was almost pitch black, only a few candles lit the place. The prison was filled with weary cries, muffled sobs and high-pitched sounds that resembled howls. But the worst part of the prison was the smell, the metallic stench of blood.

Sirius Black was brave. He plucked up all his Gryffindor courage and began walking down the prison passage.

As he walked, he noticed several cell occupants moving back against the walls, as if frightened of Sirius. He noticed a few things, the prisoners near the front of the passage were the oldest, and each cell had a plaque next to it which stated a name, age and number. On the left side the prisoners were all girls, on the right they were boys. All of them wore the same brown rags, dirty and ripped.

Sirius was starting to lose his courage now, he wanted to get out of this room and soon. This was mainly because he had reached the end of the corridor; the last cell had a plaque that read, "10086, Madison Greendale, 4 years old."

A tiny girl was lying unconscious on the hard stone floor of her lonely cell.

The cell opposite her, where "10085, Owen Samuel, 3 years old," should have been, according to the plaque, was empty.

Sirius felt sick, he turned and tried to get back to the door, but a sound made him turn.

"Help me…" a weak voice croaked, "Please."

Sirius went back to the cell where a boy about his age was curled up in the corner. He had sandy-brown hair that was too long and dirty, bright amber eyes and three large scars running across his face.

"What's going on here?" Sirius asked the boy, whispering.

"They- they took me," the boy replied, his voice was breathless and it seemed to be hard for him to talk, "they keep us here."

"Who is "they"?" Sirius asked, crouching down and moving towards the cell.

"I-I haven't done anything w-wrong," the boy said, suddenly sobbing, "I-I want my p-parents."

"Where are they?" Sirius asked, alarmed, "I want to help, I'll get you out of here, I'll save you."

"You can't, no one can," the boy replied.

There was a thin line of light as the door to the prison opened.

Sirius quickly looked up at the plaque, "10052, Remus Lupin, 12 years old."

He reached in and clutched Remus' wrist, the boy gasped and looked at him, amber eyes met grey ones and Sirius said, "I'm going to help you, Remus Lupin, I promise," before letting go of his wrist and sneaking past the two Ministry officials who were busy inspecting a cell near the door.

* * *

A snippet of the conversation of the two officials-

"Gertrude Halderman, two weeks until she's seventeen, mark her plaque," one official dictated to the other, who put a large red cross beside poor Gertrude's plaque.


	2. A Promise Had Been Forgotten

A black-haired young adult was sitting in a chair, doing some paper work.

Sirius Black had just turned seventeen, he was fresh out of his Hogwarts education and things could not have looked brighter for him. He had managed to land himself a respectable job in the Department for Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, with a little help from his dad, but mainly his excellent NEWT results.

There was this one little nagging feeling that was annoying him, however.

It happened every time he roamed the halls of this particular department he always got this guilty feeling, as if he had forgotten to do something. It was something akin to going to a class when you know you've not done the homework that was due, but so much worse it made him feel horribly sick if he dwelled on it for too long.

He had been working there for two weeks when he walked right to the end of the corridor that housed his department, looking for some depute department leader to approve his revised copy of the Regulations for the Household Training of Certain Magical Species when he noticed a door.

This door was different than the others, blending almost completely in with the stone wall.

Something about this door was drawing him in, he wanted to open it. He felt like there was something behind that door that _needed _his attention.

"Black," a brisk female voice said behind him, "Deverick said you were looking for me."

Sirius turned around, "err, yes, Mrs Worsnop," he said, handing her his papers, "I need you to approve that for me."

She nodded curtly and turned away. Sirius sighed a little and checked his watch, it was past his hours and he was late to meet James Potter and Peter Pettigrew, his best friends, at the bar.

* * *

"Work is a bloody nightmare," Sirius complained as he sipped his drink, "I had to revise some stupid regulation for weirdoes who want to train magical creatures, and by revise they mean I read the fucking thirty page long report, tick a box and don't actually get to change a thing."

James laughed, "Mate, it's your second week there, at least you're getting to do something," he said, "auror training is tiring as hell; we're currently working on non-magic combat."

"I do fancy watching you get the shit beat out of you," Sirius smirked.

"Oi, I'm the one kicking ass," James retorted, "The rest of the trainees are a bunch of weaklings."

Sirius laughed and rolled his eyes, "whatever," he said, "what about you Pete?"

"Well, I um," Peter stuttered, gulping down his beer since he was in the middle of a mouthful when Sirius had turned to him, "it's going all right, muggle relations isn't that hard to train for."

Sirius and James smiled at him, Peter had always been a little rubbish at school subjects, but muggle relations was a sturdy career with decent pay, "you'll do great, Peter," James said.

After another drink or two Sirius yawned for what felt like the one hundredth time and James looked at him.

"What's been up with you recently?" he asked, "you've been exhausted ever since you started that job."

"I know," Sirius sighed, "I haven't been sleeping great recently."

"Is it to do with that weird feeling you've been getting at work?" James questioned, he really knew Sirius too well.

"Yeah, I feel like if I don't remember what it is, it's going to be really bad," he said.

"I'm sure it's nothing," James shrugged, sipping his beer again, "probably some repressed memory from when you had to go into work with your dad."

"I hadn't gone to work with him since I was twelve," he said, trying to remember, "mum said the next year I refused to go, like I was almost scared…"

James frowned, "what horrors could be going on in the Department for the Regulation and Control for Magical Creatures?"

"I don't know," Sirius muttered.

"Maybe you walked round the wrong corridor and caught two ministry workers going at it," Peter pitched in, making James and Sirius laugh and lightening the mood considerably.

But when Sirius went to bed that night, a stone door that was blending into the wall swam in and out of his dreams.

* * *

A snippet of conversation between two ministry officials in the prison as Sirius was drifting off to sleep-

"Remus Lupin, two weeks until he's seventeen; mark his plaque," one official dictated to the other, who put a large red cross beside poor Remus' plaque.


	3. Remembering The Promise

A few days later Sirius is back in an office trying desperately to focus on the report on a group of rogue pixies that was due in the next day.

He still hadn't shaken off the guilty feeling, but now he knows it has something to do with that door and it must have happened during his last childhood visit when he was twelve.

_Think, Sirius, think._

He hit himself in the head a few times then ran his hands through his hair.

"Rough day?" he looked up to see a pretty girl with long blonde curls smiling at him.

"You could say that," Sirius replied, returning her smile with a rather forced one.

"Well, I thought you could do with this," she said, putting a coffee down on his desk.

"Thanks," he said, taking a sip, coffee was exactly what he needed right now, "was there anything else you wanted?" he asked her.

"Well, I was thinking you and me could go and get a drink tonight," she said, fluttering her eyelashes, "to pay me back for that coffee."

"Sorry sweetheart, but you're not my type," Sirius replied.

"What?" she asked, frowning, "what's wrong with me?"

"You're not a bloke," Sirius answered simply; "I'll pay you back for the coffee if you want."

"It doesn't matter," she sighed a little, walking off.

Sirius chuckled a little; glad for any nuisance to distract him from work for even just a few minutes.

But then he was back to trying to remember what had happened.

He could remember sitting in his dad's chair, he got bored and started to wander about. There was something about a duck that could breathe fire then he got to that door but what was behind it?

_Think, Sirius, think._

It was on the tip of his tongue; he could almost taste the memory coming to the front of his mind.

_Think, Sirius think._

Then it came to him. He remembered.

"No," he said to the empty room, "no, that can't be true, it's not possible."

He ran out into the corridor, straight for the door that had been haunting his dreams. Thankfully, the corridor was empty. He stomped his feet on the ground, hoping he would hit that trigger, but then again hoping he wouldn't so it would all be proved wrong.

But the door opened and the sight that greeted him was not at all pleasant. He was back in the Prison. He remembered everything now, the smell of blood, the howling sounds, the darkness, everything.

Sirius remembered making a promise to a boy, he was the same age as him and he remembered his sandy brown hair, his bright amber eyes… but what was his name?

He looked at the nearest cell, "10057, Tessa Olden, fifteen years old."

He then looked to the cell opposite her, "10052, Remus Lupin, sixteen years old." There was a red cross next to his plaque.

That was him, Remus Lupin.

He went over to that cell and saw the boy with sandy brown hair and amber eyes, still as bright as ever but he looked paler and less alive.

"Remus," Sirius whispered, close to tears, "I'm sorry."

Remus started and looked at him, "sorry for what?" he croaked, "Who are you? P-please don't hurt me."

"I-I promised to save you, years ago," Sirius tried to explain, "but, but…"

"You can't," Remus whispered.

Sirius couldn't see what he could do to help, he didn't know. For the first time in his life he was speechless and helpless.

"I'm sorry," he murmured again before he stood up and left the room.

* * *

What are you supposed to do when you find that the place you work, no less the establishment that was built to make your laws and convict your criminals, has a secret prison where they are keeping children as young as three locked up?

Sirius went to the bar.

It wasn't the best plan in the world, admittedly, but he was, to put it lightly, completely freaked out by the whole ordeal and ended up drinking a lot of firewhiskey. Then he stumbled to the flat James shared with his girlfriend Lily, someone needed to know his story.

It was late and an annoyed looking, tousle-haired James had to get up to answer the bloody front door.

"Sirius?" he asked in surprise when he saw his best friend, "what the hell are you doing here?"

"Need to tell- to tell you…" Sirius slurred, drinking had been a terrible idea.

"You're drunk," James sighed and was about to send Sirius home, but he could see the distress in his eyes so he took pity on him and lead him to the spare bedroom where he fell on the bed gratefully.

* * *

The next morning at breakfast Sirius told James and Lily everything that had happened.

"A four year old girl, James!" he exclaimed, pacing back and forth across the small kitchen, "what the hell? It was disgusting and cruel and inhuman!"

Lily looked faintly green, James completely shocked; neither of them knew what they were supposed to say.

"And you know the worst thing?" Sirius spat, "the very worst thing? My dad is the fucking head of the department! He might be the fucking sadistic leader of the whole thing! My dad is sitting there locking up kids for no fucking reason!"

"Sirius," Lily started, calmly, "you need to talk to your dad about it, if anyone can explain what's going on; it is him."

Sirius nodded, sighing and slumped back into his chair, "you're right, you're always right," he mumbled into his hands, "I'm sorry, I guess I'm still in shock."


	4. I Keep My Promises

The next day Sirius stormed into his father's office, not bothering to knock and ignoring the frantic pleading from his secretary.

"What the hell is going on behind that stone door down the hall?" he demanded, angrily.

"I don't know what you mean," his dad answered, feigning innocence.

"You know damn well what I mean!" Sirius yelled, "You've got people locked up! In cells! Not just people, dad, they're practically children!"

"Sirius, calm down," his dad said, sighing a little, "Let's not make a scene."

"I am going to make a fucking scene if that's what it takes to get those people out of those cells!"

"Those are not people in those cells!" his father shouted, loud enough to be heard over Sirius, "they are werewolves, they are scum and they are dangerous. They are not about to be set free anytime soon."

Sirius stared at him for a moment, "they're werewolves?" he asked.

"Yes, now leave, I'm very busy," Orion Black replied, "And you shouldn't even know about that prison."

"But that's still not right!" Sirius exclaimed, "They're still people outside of the full moon! They have feelings; they're practically dying in there!"

"I am not going to be taught right and wrong by my own son now get out of my sight."

"Why was there a red cross next to one of the werewolf cells?" Sirius asked, a little more calmly this time.

"It means they're almost seventeen," his father sighed.

"What happens when they're seventeen?" Sirius questioned.

Orion Black looked up, there seemed to be a tiny bit of guilt in his eyes, but it was only there for a second before it vanished and they became steely grey again, emotionless.

"They are sentenced to death," he replied.

Sirius stared at him for a moment, unsure what to say, "You- you kill them?" he said, eventually.

"I don't, the Ministry does, it was a legislation laid down years ago; before you were born, Sirius," he said, "now get out of my office before I sack you and call security."

Sirius turned on his heel and marched out of the office, angry, shocked and scared.

* * *

He ignored the fact he was supposed to be in work for the rest of the day, instead he went straight to James and Lily's flat.

"They're werewolves," he told them, "and they lock them up and kill them."

After he had told James and Lily everything his dad had told him, he sat at their kitchen table and put his head in his hands.

"So what're you going to do?" James asked after a few minutes of silence.

"I have to do what's right," he replied, looking up, "I can't let them die; I can't work there now that I know what's going on."

"You should quit," Lily said, quietly; it was the first time she'd spoken since Sirius told them everything, she had sat silently with her hand over her mouth in horror, "you should quit and sell the story to the Daily Prophet, tell them how barbaric and disgusting and corrupt the Ministry really is."

"No one would listen to me," Sirius muttered, "no one would care because I wasn't actually in the prison, we'd need inside information."

"So you need to break someone out then," James said, speaking as if it were as simple as pranking a teacher at Hogwarts.

"That would be so illegal," Lily said, biting her lip a little, "We could all go to Azkaban."

"We?" Sirius questioned.

"Yes, we," Lily answered, narrowing her eyes a little.

James nodded, "yeah, you're not going to be able to do this on your own, mate, we're in."

Sirius smiled a little, he had the best friends in the world, "okay, owl Peter and tell him we'll need his help too."

Peter came willingly and they all set to work planning, using the same strategy they used when planning pranks in Hogwarts, "who are we breaking out, then?" he asked.

"Remus," Sirius replied, instantly, "he's almost seventeen, which means if we leave him in there for much longer he'll be dead and I made a promise to him, I keep my promises."

They all nodded and they began to draw a map of the Ministry building, "so, Remus' cell is the very first on the right," Sirius said after it was drawn, "me and James will break him out."

Peter looked at the map, "right, then I'll stand guard at the entrance to the department and say it's off limits if anyone comes by."

"Exactly Peter, and if anyone insists to get through?"

"Discreetly set off a dungbomb and tell them a noxious gas had been released by some strange creature," Peter answered proudly.

"Good, and Lily?"

"I'll be down in the atrium ready to distract the guard when you two come down," she replied, looking a little unsure.

James smiled at her, "yeah, pretend to faint or something."

Sirius shook his head, "so much could go wrong with this plan," he muttered.

"Yes, but it's the best plan we've got so if you really want to save this Remus or whatever, you're going to have to stick to it," James said.

* * *

That night as Sirius slept, he was running through the plans in his head; they would be breaking Remus out of that prison the very next night and so many things could go wrong.


	5. Rescue

Sirius, James, Lily and Peter were all sitting in Sirius' flat. They weren't talking, but waiting. They were breaking Remus out of the werewolf prison in five minutes. It had to go exactly to plan; if anything went wrong they all knew they could end up in Azkaban.

But what they were doing was right, they were saving a life.

James and Sirius stood up at the same moment; nodding to Lily and Peter, they left the flat and disapparated, appearing seconds later at the Ministry.

They nodded to the guard, who nodded tiredly back and kept reading his paper. A lot of Ministry workers came in during the night, so he didn't bother checking them.

They went up to the Department for the Regulation and Control of magical creatures before going straight down to the hidden door. Sirius stepped on the trigger and went inside, James followed closely behind him.

Meanwhile, Peter had set off to the Ministry as well. The guard didn't bother checking him either, there were too many workers to remember them all and even though Peter didn't work in the Ministry the guard was too lazy. He went up to the correct department to stand guard.

James did not have time to be shocked or horrified by the prison, even though he was. He had to hold it together as he and Sirius raised their wands and blasted away the bars.

It made a much louder noise than they expected, the noise alerted the guard who stood from his post and began to make his way upstairs.

Sirius was inside Remus' cell by this point, the frail werewolf was almost unconscious but he still tried to move away from them, "please, don't… don't hurt me," he breathed.

"It's alright, we're not going to hurt you," Sirius whispered, "James, help me."

The guard arrived in the corridor and saw Peter, who froze, "y-you can't go down there," he said.

"Oh yeah?" the guard asked, smirking a little, "why not?"

Peter thought for a second, he'd forgotten to bring the dungbomb, "toxic gas," he answered after a moment.

The guard didn't look impressed, "I don't see any gas."

"Well, it's um, invisible," Peter said. He was starting to sweat; he always started sweating when he was nervous.

"Where did this gas come from?" The guard asked, still smiling as he played along with Peter's pathetic lies.

"A hy-hybrid creature," Peter muttered. His face was getting redder, "terribly dangerous, v-very illegal."

"Oh I'll bet," said the guard just as Sirius and James came out of the door half carrying Remus, "what do we have here?"

He pushed past a stuttering Peter and walked towards Sirius and James who froze.

"Well?" the guard asked, "What's going on?"

"We're taking him to his execution," James said, trying to sound more confident than he felt.

"You're an auror aren't you?" the guard asked, "why are you bothering with werewolves?"

"The officials thought it would be safer in case the werewolf was violent," Sirius answered.

"I know for a fact that there are no executions scheduled for tonight," the guard stated, "you two are breaking a werewolf out of prison and I'm guessing that idiot over there is your lookout," James and Sirius' hearts stopped, they'd failed, "so, ten years in Azkaban for you three then? I don't think…"

"Stupefy!"

James and Sirius jumped a little at the yell, moving out of the way as the guard fell to the ground and they saw Lily standing behind him with her wand pointed at his head.

"Lily," James said, "I love you."

"I got here and he wasn't at his desk," she said, "I came up here because I knew you'd be in trouble."

Sirius nodded, "thanks Lily," he said, "you obliviate him and get Peter to help take him back down to his desk, we'll get Remus back to your flat."

They carefully took Remus back to James and Lily's flat, thankfully not meeting anyone else on the way. They chose not to keep him at Sirius' flat because they knew it would be the first to be searched after Remus' disappearance because of Sirius' not so quiet hatred of the prison.

Sirius lay him down on the bed in the spare room as James came in with extra blankets and water. Neither of them were particularly good with healing spells, but Lily was training to be a healer so she would be able to help when she got back.

They only had to wait twenty minutes before Lily and Peter arrived. She instantly started helping Remus, waving her wand over his wounds and telling the others to wait outside.

When they were allowed back in, Remus looked a little better, but he was still dreadfully thin and unconscious.

Lily looked at Sirius, "we'll have to keep an eye on him," she said, "did everything else go according to plan?"

Sirius nodded, "yeah, we fixed the cell bars; it'll look like we were never there."

Lily looked at James, still looking worried, "if they find us," she said, "if they find out we're hiding him…"

"It's okay, Lily," James said, pulling her into a hug, "we've done the right thing here, we've saved a life."

"I'm not going to let anything happen to you and James, Lily," Sirius promised, "if they find him, I'll hand myself in."

James looked at him, "Sirius, you don't have to do that, I helped."

"Yeah, but you've got a life, you've got a girlfriend, a great job and a nice place to live," Sirius replied, "I've got nothing to lose; I dragged you into this anyway."

"If you get arrested, Sirius, we'll get you out again," Sirius didn't know who said it, he'd turned his back, but he knew that even though only one of them said it, the three of them meant it and that made him smile a little.

"I know," Sirius replied.


	6. Sit and Talk With Me

Remus didn't wake up for a few days, and in those days Sirius stayed in James and Lily's apartment and insisted on checking on him every few minutes.

It was strange; Sirius seemed to care a lot about this complete stranger, so much that he had broken so many laws for him. At first James thought it was because Sirius felt somehow responsible, because his dad was the head of the department, but could there possibly be something deeper?

The third day after his rescue, Remus woke up. He opened his eyes, expecting the cold, stinking cell he had grown so used to, but instead he was in a bed.

He sat up, his heart beating hard in his chest. He didn't know where he was or how on earth he got there.

Remus Lupin hadn't seen a room outside that prison since he was five. Blurry memories of a tiny cottage in the countryside where he used to play, running around as he explored a world that was wondrous to a little boy, were the only thing that kept him sane for twelve years.

He was still sitting up when a young woman walked in with a tray in her hand, he red hair framed her pale face and her bright green eyes widened as she looked at Remus.

She turned her head to look out of the door again, "Sirius!" she called, "he's awake!"

The next moment another person was in the room, this time a man. He had grey eyes and black hair that fell to his shoulders. He looked at Remus; as if thankful he'd woken up before he smiled.

"You're probably a bit confused," Sirius said and Remus nodded in response, "well, you won't remember me, but I kind of promised you I'd help you when we were eleven…"

"I remember," Remus croaked, looking at Sirius.

"You do?" Sirius asked, his eyes widening as he took a seat at the bottom of Remus' bed, "well, I forgot about it, must have blocked it from my memory or something. But I found it again when I started working there, so I quit and, um, broke you out."

Remus stared at him for a moment, "this… this is insane."

Sirius frowned, "I know, it's strange…" he muttered, "I just, you're almost seventeen and I couldn't let you die… I'm sorry…"

"Don't be," Remus smiled a little, it looked like he hadn't smiled for so long, as if he wasn't used to it, "I meant a good insane."

Lily, who had left the room, came back in with water and some food as well as the medicine, "I'm Lily," she said, smiling warmly.

Remus nodded and looked at Sirius expectantly, "oh and I'm Sirius," Sirius said, "hi."

Remus lay back in his bed, "Sirius," he repeated quietly, "thank you."

"It's okay, I'll let you sleep." Sirius smiled and left the room.

Remus woke again a few hours later, this time he called for Sirius, who came into the room instantly.

"Are you okay?" Sirius asked, sounding worried.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Remus blushed a little, "I just wondered if you might sit and talk with me…"

Sirius smiled, he knew Remus wouldn't have exactly had friendly conversation in the prison, so he sat on the bed again, "what do you want to talk about?" he asked.

"I don't know," Remus muttered, "you, I'm not that interesting."

"Okay, well I'm Sirius Orion Black, I was born into a wealthy family but never really cared about any of them that much," he started, "I only ever got along with my dad, but I haven't talked to him since I found out about the prison."

Sirius told Remus about his whole life, going to Hogwarts when he was eleven, meeting James and Peter and becoming the biggest trouble makers in the school. He talked about when James fell in love with Lily, how Sirius himself went out with several girls until he realised he didn't like them and started dating boys. He talked and talked and talked and Remus listened.

Remus loved having someone to talk to him, talk to him as if he was human, as if he was equal to every other wizard in the world and for the first time in so long he felt like he was worth something. He almost felt happy.

"I wonder if my parents are still alive," Remus said as Sirius paused for breathe.

"I don't know," Sirius replied, he hadn't even thought about Remus having a family, "if they are, it wouldn't be a good idea to go visiting; the ministry are probably patrolling their house since you disappeared."

Remus nodded, "what am I going to do?" he asked, looking at Sirius with a sad, lost expression.

"We'll wait until you're better, then you can tell your story to the Daily Prophet, expose the rubbish job the Ministry are doing and put a stop to it," Sirius said, confidently, "then I can take care of you, or you can go back to your parents or something."

"I don't want to talk about that place," Remus whispered, "I can't…"

"It's okay," Sirius said, gently, "you don't have to do anything until you're ready."

Remus nodded, closing his eyes again, "thank you, Sirius," he said.

"You're welcome, Remus," Sirius replied, smiling a little and leaving him to sleep again.


End file.
